China has the right policy tools to meet its economic growth targets, a top Chinese official said.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Premier Li Keqiang said that these tools will help underpin the nation's economy if "it slides below the appropriate range."

China's GDP growth target for this year has been set at 6.5 to 7 percent.

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Li cited the Central and Western regions as examples that there is still big room for investment, and consequently, strengthen the nation's economy.

As a strategy, the Premier said that the Central Government will develop new growth engines in order to support the traditional sectors which have been the country's prime movers of growth but have not been performing well lately.

"We will develop 'the new economy' - that is, we will foster new growth engines to help promote economic restructuring," as he underscored the desire of China's leadership to boost the nation's economic growth.

Among the new growth engines the national government hopes to develop include not only emerging industries such as the Internet, the Internet of Things, cloud computing and e-commerce, but also state-of-the-art manufacturing, such as intelligent manufacturing and customized production.

Premier Li noted that there is a tendency for traditional growth engines to weaken as the country's economy matures, which usually happens with the more economically-developed nations.

As this happens, there is a need for China to build up the capacity of these new emerging industries so that they will be able to develop side by side with the developed ones, and sustain economic growth.

Further compounding the situation are the uncertainties in global markets, such as weak demand and financial market volatility caused by interest rate decisions made by the US Federal Reserve this year.

The Premier's statement comes in the wake of reports that China been showing signs of an economic slowdown in the first two months of the year, as gleaned from the weakening of domestic industrial production and retail sales.

Another measure undertaken by the Central Government is to push for supply-side reform, which aims to to lower barriers to production through tax cuts and shedding overcapacity.

Premier Li promised that the national leadership will not renege on its commitment to carry out its reform agenda and ensure China's economic growth. 

Tagschina, China economy, china economic growth